


The One About Mr. Tanner

by polybi



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 6 year old CJ, F/F, Gift Fic, Harry Chapin, Lullabies, Short One Shot, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 23:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10887630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polybi/pseuds/polybi
Summary: Astra tells daughter CJ a story, with Alex's help. Based on a tweet by Laura Benanti and a song by Harry Chapin. A gift to a good friend.





	The One About Mr. Tanner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AXEe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/gifts).



> There is an OC in this. One created by a very talented writer by the name of AXEe who offered a story to me as a gift. I’m returning the favor. I hope I do AXEe and her creation CJ proud.
> 
>  
> 
> The usual disclaimers, plus a tip of the hat to the late, great Harry Chapin, who could tell a story better than I ever could.

**One night in 2024**

  
They called Connor Jeremiah Danvers-In-Ze their little miracle.

  
All things considered they were not wrong. A child born of two women, one earth human, the other Kryptonian, with a hint of Martian DNA, could very well fit in that category. Connor...or CJ, as her mothers Alexandra and Astra prefer to call her, went through medical hell in the first year of her life, as the DNA from two worlds struggled to coexist in the young girl’s body. But within that year, breakthroughs were made and by her first birthday, CJ was given a clean bill of health, with doctors saying that she would live a long,healthy life.

  
And it was then that Alex and Astra vowed to do everything they could to make life for CJ as special as she was. And one thing they promised to do was that, on as many Friday nights as they could, it would be story night for CJ. On those nights where neither could tell a story or sing a lullaby, either because of illness, scheduling, or fighting the occasional alien threat to life, liberty, and property values, family members would step in to fill the void. Some nights it would be Alex’s sister Kara, or her boyfriend James. CJ’s godfather Winn and his girlfriend Lucy. Even Alex and Astra’s usually gruff superior at the DEO, J’onn, would ready a story...but then again, J’onn was the one who provided the Martian DNA to the young girl.

  
And so it came to pass one Friday night in the sixth year of CJ’s life that it was Astra’s turn to read to CJ.. CJ was always excited for a new story or song to send her off to the land of Nod, and tonight Astra was very excited to read a new book to her daughter. It was a picture book called “Mr. Tanner.” It was based on a song that Astra heard one night while cuddling with Alex, who was a great admirer of the singer-storyteller Harry Chapin. Alex started listening to her mother’s collection of Chapin’s albums and was enthralled with the way he weaved great stories in his music. When Alex played Chapin’s “Short Stories” album that night, she could tell by the way her wife closed her eyes and let the music come in and surround her that Astra had that same admiration. Astra truly felt it when she heart Chapin’s “Mr. Tanner,” and she knew that she wanted to sing it to CJ when she got the chance.

  
That chance came a few days before that night when she was at a bookstore and found the picture book story of “Mr. Tanner.” She quickly bought it and took it home, and now she lay in bed with her daughter to tell the story.....

* * *

 

 

 Mr. Tanner worked in a laundry, and as he worked he sang. His voice was a rich baritone, rich enough to rival the likes of Gianluca Ginoble and other operatic voices. And his singing made him happy and his heart full as he washed load after load. People would hear him and marvel at his voice. They told him that he should perform in public. But that wasn’t Mr. Tanner’s style. He would rather sing while he was working.

  
But people kept on pushing and one day he decided, probably to get people off his case about it, to actually sing in front of an audience. A concert hall was rented, a pianist was hired, that launderer found his best tux, and one night, Mr. Tanner would finally perform to an audience.

 

* * *

 

 

CJ was enjoying the story, and it was clear that she liked this Tanner person. She was rooting for him, in most part because of Astra’s storytelling abilities. But CJ wasn’t the only one listening. Alex had just put the dishes away and now she was quietly standing in the doorsill of CJ’s room, also listening to her wife as she weaved the story....

 

* * *

 

The stage was set, and the auditorium was filled to the brim with people. It seemed like tonight was the high point in the city’s cultural calendar. Everyone seemed to want to hear this everyman with the voice.

  
He sang a number of songs. The applause was polite but not thunderous.

  
The critics, on the other hand, while not scathing, were less than generous with any praise. Yes, they said he was well prepared, but the bottom line is that they thought that Mr. Tanner should go back to his day job....

 

 CJ seemed sad at the turn of events for Mr. Tanner. “Why did they have to be so mean...?”

  
“They weren’t mean, Tiny One,” Astra answered. “Maybe they just didn’t understand him.”

  
“Kinda like some people don’t understand you and ma...” CJ may have been six, but she was very perceptive, especially of those who did not get her moms, either because they were both women, or one was not of Earth. And in a sense, Astra, and Alex listening in quietly, both thought it was good that CJ could sense this now, so that when she was older she would be better prepared when their daughter would have to deal with the ignorance of others.

  
“I know,” said Astra, then she put on a bright smile and told that the story had a happy ending, in that story, Mr. Tanner did go back to his job, and never sang in front of an audience again, but he did sing to himself. And then Astra, in her own beautiful voice, sang the closing lyrics of the song the story was based...

  
Music was his life,  
It was not his livelihood,  
And it made him feel so happy  
And it made him feel so good.  
And he sang from his heart  
And he sang from his soul.  
He did not know how well he sang;  
It just made him whole.

  
But from the back, there was another voice that rose. And equally beautiful voice singing the same tune that was the melody at the end of Chapin’s recording. It was Alex...

  
Fall on your knees...  
Oh hear the angel voices...  
Oh night divine  
Oh night when Christ was born  
Oh night divine...  
Oh night.....Oh night divine....!

  
And at the end CJ was clapping wildly. “That was beautiful moms!”

  
“Thank you kind ma’am!” Alex exaggerated a curtsey. Astra smiled and told CJ it was time for dreams. The young girl slid under the sheet, held her ever-present Ms. Penguin as both moms kissed her temple. Then the mothers turned off the light, and walked out the room, leaving a crack open just in case.

  
The two women walked down the hall. Nothing was said between them. Nothing needed to be said. Because for both, they each did not know how well they sang tonight, they just knew it made them and their daughter whole.

  
And when they got to their room, they kissed, then walked in and closed the door, leaving a crack open, just in case.

  
FIN

 

**Author's Note:**

> Today Laura Benanti posted a tweet that said that she loved the song Mr. Tanner and that she was excited about the book that was written based on the song by Harry Chapin, a portion that I used in the story. This is for Ms. Benanti, Chyler Leigh who plays Alex, the beautiful OC CJ, created by the equally talented AXEe, for who this is a gift. 
> 
>  
> 
> And since I am posting this on Mother’s Day, this is for you as well.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading


End file.
